


Playing a Role

by Resting_witch_face



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fluff, Joe handles Stunt Choreography, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nicky is an Actor, Pining, Slow Burn, both think the other one is hot af, but also like why the slow burn when they both clearly know they have feelings for each other, but won’t do anything because they’re “professionals”, oh I know cause the whole “don’t want to ruin our friendship” thing, which ok valid but also dumb cause they are clearly meant to be together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:54:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27371512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resting_witch_face/pseuds/Resting_witch_face
Summary: This was Nicky’s big break, a chance at a major Hollywood blockbuster that would be his introduction to American audiences. More important than that it was a chance to work with an EP and a Director he had admired for years. He wasn’t about to fuck this one up.Of course the universe had other plans when it decided to turn the hot as balls stunt choreographer into his co-star.Will Nicky manage to keep it in his pants long enough to finish filming....unlikely.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 35
Kudos: 142





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Have you all ever done something really, really stupid because you convinced yourself it would be better for your mental state if you did?
> 
> Welp, that’s exactly what I did when I orphaned all my works and deleted my AO3 account. 
> 
> 2020 has been a challenge and I thought walking away from writing and fandom for a while would help. Why I didn’t just put everything hiatus and come back to it later I genuinely don’t know (probably something to do with the whole idea that the world is basically burning and I thought I needed to commit myself to focusing on causes in the real world and trying to make a difference and I thought I might never come back to writing). 
> 
> Whatever my logic I was wrong and divorcing myself from something I actually enjoyed was so stupid and also just not great for me. 
> 
> So I’m backkkkkkk!!!!
> 
> For those of you that were reading Old Guard Elementary, I’m currently re-writing it and will repost soon. After that I might go back to Affection, Bound, and The Moon When I’m Lost in Darkness, but I wanted to work on something fresh in the meantime and see where it went. 
> 
> So enjoy some of my usual oblivious pining from the boys.

Nicky had been expecting a lot of things from his first major American film. 

It was a spy thriller and the most physically demanding role Nicky had ever taken on. 

It was also a huge opportunity for him, a departure from his usual work which was largely in the Italian cinema, and he wasn’t about to fuck it up. 

What he had not expected was a sassy, smart, hot as fuck stunt choreographer. 

Joe was....impressive to say the least. An expert in no less than a dozen different forms of hand to hand combat, a champion fencer, and a skilled marksman. 

Plus he had a fantastic ass. But that was a fact Nicky tried to ignore as much as possible for the sake of professionalism. 

To make matters worse Joe was also a sarcastic little shit who knew how to push each and every one of Nicky’s buttons, for better or worse. 

Nicky was not going to blow this opportunity because he wanted to fuck the man teaching him how to fight. 

That didn’t mean he wasn’t tempted, particularly on days like today. 

They’d been running through a tricky set of choreography, it was intended to be a long, single shot down a crowded hallway that was a mix of several different styles of martial arts and involved no less than three knives and an axe. The actor who Nicky would be fighting against in this scene had been called away from their month long intensive fight and weapons training boot camp they had undertaken before filming would begin due to a series of reshoots needed for the superhero movie he was working on so it was just Joe and Nicky today.

He’d been told when they started filming that in most circumstances they would use a stunt double (something to do with insurance and liability but Nicky couldn’t help but feel a little offended that they wouldn’t let him do most of his own stunts) so it wasn’t necessary for him to be an expert fighter, he just needed to be competent enough to pass muster when he had to be the one on film, but this scene was different. The framing was going to be kept tight, a single long shot leaving no room for cutaways or transitions to be used to hide changes between the actor and their stunt double so it was imperative that they got the choreography down perfectly. 

And it was nearly perfect in his opinion, movements so smooth it felt more like a dance than a fight, but it seemed Joe did not agree with him. 

“I just feel like you’re hesitating a bit with the last movement which really needs to be perfect if you’re going to sell the entire sequence.”

It wasn’t that Joe was wrong exactly, Nicky had been hesitating, it was more that he really didn’t want to explain to Joe why he was hesitating. 

You see the end of the fight had this rather intricate move that involved Nicky flipping his opponent over his shoulder and onto his back and then pinning him to the ground. 

When it was his co-star, Charles, who was handsome and kind but far too straight and far too serious to be someone Nicky could even be remotely interested in it was fine. 

But when it was Joe, who was witty, smart, gorgeous and very, very gay, that Nicky was pinning down, well that caused a few problems. 

Mainly that it was making it much harder for him to convince himself that this role was worth six months of blue balls because he couldn’t stop mooning over Joe for the duration of filming. 

“How about we run through it one more time then we’ll be done for the day, sounds good?”

Nicky nodded, turning back to walk towards the far end of the dance studio they had commandeered as their training room. The fight had to cover a lot of distance and they would need every inch of the room to run through it. 

Joe took his place in front of Nicky, standing loose and relaxed. “Ready?”

Nicky shifted, widening his feet, hands coming up. “As I’ll ever be.”

Joe threw the first punch, Nicky dodged left, Joe’s fist passing so close he could feel the air against the side of his face. 

Nicky used the momentum from the dodge to turn into a roundhouse kick aimed at Joe’s side, Joe catching the kick before it could make impact. Nicky was able to feel the heat of Joe’s palms of his calf like some sort of brand even through the fabric of his sweats. 

Joe only held his leg for a moment, Nicky breaking out of the hold and throwing a punch of his own. Joe’s head snapped to the side, really selling the impact even though Nicky’s knuckles had barely grazed his cheek. 

They continued to move across the room, trading blows until they reached the far end of the room where a padded mat was sitting on the floor. 

Well, here goes nothing, Nicky thought. Nicky dodged again as Joe threw his final punch, hand snapping out to grab Joe’s wrist while he tucked is shoulder down, driving it into Joe’s stomach and pressing upwards, turning as he stood and launching Joe over his shoulder and into his back on the padded mat, the entire time keeping Joe’s wrist held tight. 

Before Joe could rise from the mat Nicky had twisted around to straddle Joe, catching his other wrist and pinning them down on either side of Joe’s head. 

For a spy thriller that was supposed to be geared towards heterosexual males the movie itself had a fair bit of homoerotic subtext now that Nicky thought about the way he and Joe were pressed against each other, Nicky leaning down so they were almost nose to nose. 

There was a few beats of silence, both of them breathing hard and in that instant Nicky glanced down briefly, eyes focusing on Joe’s lips for a split second before shifting up to look at Joe’s eyes. He wasn’t sure what he expected to find in those dark eyes but it certainly wasn’t the hunger he saw. The moment lingered for another few seconds and Nicky contemplated closing the scant inches of space between them, but the tension was broken by a branch hitting against the window nearest to them and Nicky was jerking back, releasing Joe’s wrists and scrambling to his feet. 

Joe climbed to his feet as well, smile wide as he spoke, “see, not even a moments hesitation there, it was perfect!”

Nicky would have said something about how he owed it all to Joe, but before he could the door burst open and the films director and executive producer walked in. 

Andromache “Andy” Sythia was an industry vet with more awards to her name than anyone else in the business. She had known Nicky for years thanks to some mutual acquantiances in the industry and was half the reason he’d been handed the role of Luca. She knew his work and when the film had been struggling to find their star, casting just continually bringing in your typical a-list, cookie cutter actors who just were not right for the role, she had brought up Nicky. She’d been the one to call his agent and had gotten him in the first flight to LA for a table read.

Nile Freeman, meanwhile, was a Hollywood wunderkind who had made her directorial debut at nineteen and had snagged her first Oscar by twenty-three. Nicky had met her for the first time at the table read and had been endlessly impressed by how she managed to balance professionalism with kindness. She’s also been the one that had told him at the end of the read that the role was his if he wanted it. 

“We’ve got some bad news,” Nile started to say as she and Andy walked towards them. 

“Charles broke his ankle during reshoots for that obnoxious superhero monstrosity he was filming and is going to be out of commission for weeks, possibly even months depending on how long it takes to heal.” Andy was never one to beat around the bush. 

“And Marwan was the hardest role to cast, even more difficult that your role Nicky.” Nile hadn’t exactly been completely silent on how she had felt Charles wasn’t necessarily perfect for the role, but she’d also always followed up with the fact that Marwan was an astoundingly challenging character to cast and they probably would never find someone who was perfect so they were lucky to get as close as they could with Charles. 

Last minute casting shuffles happened all the time, it was just part of the industry, but still Nicky couldn’t help but be a little worried about what this would mean for the film and if it might delay everything further or even possibly shut down the project entirely. “So how long is this going to push us back?” He also needed to know because he had committed to another film in Italy after everything was finished up for this one and he would hate to have to turn that one down, it sounded genuinely interesting and he would be playing a super villain for the first time in his career which he was really looking forward to. 

“Well, we may have an idea,” Nile responded, both she and Andy turning to look at Joe now. 

“Joe, you have an acting background don’t you?” Andy asked even though Nicky was sure she already knew the answer. It was no secret Joe was one of Andy’s favorites when it came to stunt choreography as they had worked together for most of Joe’s career thus far. 

Joe’s eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest, clearly not loving where this conversation was going. “A few roles right after I graduated, but nothing major.”

“You had no less than three major roles at the Globe and did a season on Broadway, also you went to Juilliard. 

“Yeah, ten years ago where I studied drama and all of those roles were stage acting which is a completely different animal than film”

“He’d have to grow the curls out maybe another inch or two and let that scruff turn into an actual beard,” Nile tossed in and now Nicky was completely lost. Joe’s hair was cut relatively short and he kept his facial hair well trimmed but why in the hell would any of that matter. 

“No,” Joe responded, shaking his head emphatically. 

“I thought you liked your hair longer, like that one time when we were doing that movie about immortals. We’re not talking anything insane here, in fact it will probably be long enough in just a week or two if you let it go, plenty of time before filming.”

“That’s not what I’m saying no to and you know it.”

“I’m sorry, am I missing something,” Nicky cut in because at this point he was well and truly lost. 

“Well, since the role of Marwan was so difficult to cast and after we got word that Charles was out of commission a few hours ago we started talking about who possible alternatives might be that would be ready to go in short order,” Nile replied. 

“We needed someone who would need minimal training with our shortened time for pre-production,” Andy added. 

“And we had a very specific physical requirements in terms of appearance based on the source material.” Nile was referring to the series of novels the movie was based on. 

“And we realized pretty quick that Joe was our only real option,” Andy finished. 

Well, that was not what Nicky had been expecting. It also would make filming even more challenging. The roles of Luca and Marwan were spies from rival countries who were forced to team up to stop a nuclear war and nearly ninety percent of the scenes featuring one of them included the other. Not to mention the astoundingly physical fight sequences the film required and the one very interesting scene involving both of them riding one motorcycle. 

If Nicky thought he had problems now keeping it in his pants, Joe shifting into the role of co-star was only going to make that harder. 

Luckily, it seemed he might avoid that by virtue of Joe simply refusing to take on the role. 

“I’m not interested.”

“But we need you,” Nile was giving Joe these big sad puppy eyes as she begged. 

“No.”

“You’re the best option we have.”

“Then find someone else.”

“There isn’t anyone else.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, you can surely find someone better than a no name with only a handful of acting credits on their resume that are from almost a decade ago.”

“Joe, we wouldn’t be asking if we weren’t sure you were the best option,” Andy cut in, locking eyes with Joe and for a minute Nicky could almost make out the silent argument they were having with each other, somehow communicating everything without saying a word. 

It ended with Joe tossing his hands up in the air. “Fine, I’ll do it but only if I get paid as much as you were going to pay Charles.”

“That’s going to be a challenge, Charles is pretty well known and they shelled out big bucks to get him. Convincing them to pay the same for someone else will be difficult,” Nile this time. 

“You’re problem, not mine, now get out so Nicky and I can keep training. Until you manage to pull that off I’m still in charge of stunts and I intend to do my job for the time being.”

Andy and Nile left looking triumphant and Joe turned to face Nicky. 

“Well, if we’re going to be co-stars I guess that means we should probably run a few more scenes and get them down pat so I have more time to spend on learning my lines. I know I said we could be done after the last one but would you mind going again?”

Well fuck, this was going to end terribly. 

—

In the end Andy and Nile managed to pull it off somehow and suddenly Joe was thrust into the public eye.

Not that it really made much of a difference for the time being while they were country hopping from location shoot to location shoot, but if this movie was as successful as everyone seemed convinced it would be and if he didn’t completely fuck this up then his life was never going to be the same. 

It also meant that he was going to receive the biggest paycheck he had ever seen which was an odd thing to think about. 

It wasn’t that stunt work paid that poorly, it was just that he’d never before received the type of money usually reserved for the top billing actor on a film. Hell, if he really was going to make the jump into acting he might finally get to move away from LA and back to New York. He loved his job, but he’d been more or less forced into living in LA so he could be at the beck and call of whatever studio needed him most. Actors had a bit more leeway with where they could live than production staff did so that might be another upside if this whole movie actually worked out. 

Of course the best part of the entire experience might have been that he got to spend even more time with Nicky than he had before. 

Joe was man enough to admit that he had fallen fast and hard for Nicky and to be completely frank he couldn’t be blamed. Nicky was the walking embodiment of sex on legs, but more importantly, he was the single kindest person Joe had ever met. He never seemed a to have a harsh thing to say to anyone and he always was sweet and pleasant to everyone, from the lowest PA on the totem pole all the way up to their director or Producer. 

That’s not to say he was a pushover though, Joe had seen Nicky interact with some of the press that had come around to ask about the movie, watched him destroy each and every one of them who tried to call his credentials into question. Anyone who thought they might be able to run over Nicky purely because of his kindness would quickly realize he had a spine of steel and wasn’t afraid to snap back when the situation warranted it. 

He was more or less Joe’s walking dream man and the only reason Joe hadn’t jumped him already was because he was a professional and could keep it in his pants for the few weeks of training. Once they got to actual filming Joe wouldn’t be as heavily involved with the actors as he was during stunt training and he could get some breathing room to get over the ridiculous crush he had on the Italian. 

Or at least that had been the case before he had been thrust into the role of actor. 

No, now instead of getting some distance he was spending almost every waking moment with Nicky. Between shooting, working on lines and every other thing that came with filming a movie they saw more of each other than he would have ever expected and before Joe realized what has happen ring Nicky had suddenly become Joe’s closest friend. 

All of which did nothing to address the whole issue of him falling in love with Nicky. By some small miracle he managed to make it through the first couple months of filming without making a complete fool of himself. It was close though, there may have been a time or two when they had sequestered themselves in Nicky’s trailer to run lines and talk through a scene where Joe had just barely managed to avoid informing Nicky of his undying affection. 

Of course then they had to finish out their final weeks of shooting in Italy, specifically on Capri which Nicky had apparently visited frequently throughout his youth and he was determined to show Joe every corner of the island between filming. 

And it was the most fun Joe had had in very long time.

He told Nicky as much, one night when they were sitting outside a cafe streetlights just beginning to come on as the sun set and they finished their meal. 

“I’m glad,” Nicky responded with a wide smile. “Capri may not be my exact home per say but I’m glad you are enjoying at least a part of Italy given the opportunity.”

“I didn’t expect things to turn out the way they did when I’d said yes to the role, I thought Andy and Nile would never manage to pull the whole thing off in the first place.”

Nicky was silent for a few moments, Joe could tell he was thinking over his next words careful so he waited to hear what Nicky would say instead of forging onward and changing the subject. 

“You’re good at this, acting, you know.”

“I’m passable, you’re the one who is really amazing. The way you convey emotions and your use of micro-expressions, it’s astounding really. I still lean too hard into old stage acting tricks, everything is too exaggerated, like I’m still playing to the back of the room even though there is no need for any of that on film.” Joe tried to wave off Nicky compliment but Nicky would not be deterred. 

“I mean it Joe. Your ability to capture a story and draw people in to every last word you have to say when reading lines is a rare talent in the community. Plus your talent for the physical scenes means you’re well rounded and suited to action or drama whenever the need rises. And while I certainly could never see you in one of those ridiculous slapstick American comedies,” Joe had to fight very hard to not laugh aloud at the way Nicky’s nose wrinkled up in distaste, “your comedic timing is good and plays well with the sort of wit and humor needed for this role. If you wanted to I’m sure you could make the transition to acting full time.” 

Joe could hear the question in Nicky’s tone and, as he was unable to deny Nicky anything, he gave him as much of an answer he could at the moment. “I’m honestly not sure what I want to do at this point, everything happened so fast and it still doesn’t feel entirely real.”

Nicky just smiled at Joe, soft and kind. “Well, I hope you continue acting. I’d like more opportunities to work with you beyond just this film.”

Well shit, Joe wasn’t about to be able to give up on that chance anytime soon. Guess he was an actor now.


	2. Chapter 2

“And that’s a wrap.”

The crew burst out in applause as Nile finally called a wrap on filming. 

When Nicky looked over at Joe, who was standing across from him on the wide terrace, a beautiful seaside view in the background, he couldn’t help but be a little dumbstruck. 

It was done, months of preparation followed by months of filming ended here, Joe standing across from him dressed in a stylish bomber jacket, a wide smile lighting up his face.

Nicky couldn’t believe it was over and if he was being completely honest with himself, he didn’t want it to be. 

This had been the most fun he could remember ever having on set. He hadn’t laughed this much since he was a child and beyond that he could tell the film they’d just finished was going to end up being one he could be proud of. He wasn’t sure how he knew it, but it just felt like something he could sense. 

He thinks Joe sensed it too, beneath all his jokes about how casting him was going to fuck everything up and make the movie terrible, Nicky could see this sort of soft hopefulness in Joe’s eyes that this was going well, that they were making something beautiful and special. 

“The studio is going to want a sequel you know, Booker has already been tasked with writing the screenplay,” Andy came chat with both of them while some of the crew was packing up and Nile was talking to the aforementioned, long suffering screenwriter for their film. 

“You mean between the four other ones he is working on, you know the way you and the studio pile work on him is one of the reasons he drinks,” Joe responded, shrugging his jacket off and hanging it over a nearby chair. It was warm out and Nicky was willing to bet Joe had been dying in that jacket the whole time they had been shooting. 

He was glad he had worn a jacket though, because no matter how good Joe looked in that nothing could compare to the sight of Joe’s bare arms in the sleeveless top he had been wearing beneath it. Had Joe been in just this for their scene Nicky is fairly certain he would have flubbed every single one of his lines. 

“...... no he drinks because he’s a French divorcee with no real outlet for his feelings, you know that just as well as I do.” Oh dear, he’d just missed about half of what Andy was saying. 

“You can’t be so sure they’ll want to pick this up for a sequel, no one has any clue how it will be received by critics and audiences and we only just finished filming,” Nicky commented, pulling off his own suit jacket as he was beginning to get a bit warm as well and the rolling up his shirtsleeves after he had set it aside. 

Andy just gave him an unimpressed look. “We have the best cast and crew ever assembled and the press is already half in love with both you and Joe, trust me, this one is going to be a home run.”

“They love Joe,” Nicky countered, and how could they not, he was so insanely charming all the goddamn time. 

Joe just snorted out a laugh. “They love an underdog. At best I get to be an uplifting tale of a poor stunt double raised up to stardom but more likely I’m going to end up a cautionary tale about how to ruin a brilliant film by casting a nobody with no business acting in anything. And also you sell yourself short, I’ve seen what Tumblr has to say about you and they think you’re adorably shy and sweet.”

Nicky should have never introduced Joe to Tumblr when they were both tipsy and bored one night during the first week of filming. 

He also wasn’t about to stand for Joe tearing himself down like that and was about to say something but Andy beat him to the punch. 

“You’re either fishing for compliments or completely oblivious to your own talent and neither of those are a good look on you Joe, but if you want to delude yourself until the film comes out and everyone falls in love with you even more I won’t stand in your way.”

Joe opened his mouth to protest, but Andy cut him off by jabbing a finger against his chest. “And don’t you dare act like this during any the the press tour. Nile and I hate press duty just as much as the rest of you so you suck it up and slap a happy smile on your face and talk about how excited you are for your big break.”

And just like that she was gone, grabbing Booker and pulling him away to most likely discuss his current workload and making sure he was genuinely ok with it. Andy might not always show she cared about the people she worked with, but she did and clearly Joe’s comment had spurred her into action. 

Nicky and Joe meanwhile were left alone with a few members of the crew packing up equipment. 

Silence settled between them for a moment, but not the uncomfortable or overbearing sort of silence one would normally feel the need to fill with idle chatter over pointless nonsense. No, Nicky had never felt uncomfortable in Joe’s presence. Unbalanced and out of sorts, yes he was certainly familiar with those feelings when Joe was around, but never uncomfortable. 

“So, when do you have to head out for your next film?” Joe was the one to finally break the silence after a few minutes. 

“I leave tonight actually.” Nicky wasn’t exactly thrilled about that fact either, he would have enjoyed more time with the cast and crew, more time with Joe, but alas duty called. 

“I’ll miss you,” Joe commented, turning so he was facing Nicky fully, leaning back against the balcony ledge they had been standing near, both arms coming up to rest in the railing further highlighting Joe’s lean torso and well built arms. “It won’t be the same around here for the next few days that we shut everything down without you.”

Nicky shrugged trying to appear nonchalant, but he could feel the blush heating up his face and cursed his pale complexion. 

“You were pretty excited about this one too, weren’t you? First time playing a villain in this sort of film right?”

Nicky had only mentioned how much fun he thought His next film was going to be once but it was utterly unsurprising that Joe remembered that tiny passing comment.

“The role is fascinating, and the physicality of it compliments all the training we did really well so it should be a smooth transition.”

“Who do they have in terms of the stunt team? Just curious if I know any of them, we tend to be a fairly tight knit industry?” Joe asked. 

“Merrick Industries, I think someone with the last name Keane is the lead in terms training. 

It was nearly impossible to ignore the flinch from Joe when he mentioned the name. “Is that not good?”

“No, no it’s fine really,” Joe rushed to assure Nicky. “Merrick Industries does a fine job usually it’s just there is some personal history there is all.” Joe took a deep breath as though weighing just how much he should tell Nicky and for a moment Nicky almost told Joe he didn’t have to keep going or tell him anything but Joe started talking again before he could. 

“Keane, the guy you mentioned is leading for the stunt team, and I used to date. It was a really long time ago when I was just starting out and we haven’t spoken for years. We met when I was living in New York and after it ended he moved back to the UK and I moved to L.A.”

It didn’t take an idiot to deduce from Joe’s tone that the relationship hadn’t ended well. “Ah, I see,” Nicky commented, unsure of what he could even say, before they both fell into silence again, this one a lot less comfortable than before. 

After the silence and distance between them lingered for a bit too long it was Nicky who broke it this time. 

“I’ll miss you as well you know. These last few months have been some of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had on set.”

That seemed to perk Joe up a bit of the wide smile was anything to go by. 

“And just think, we have an entire press tour together and premieres. By the time that is through you’ll be desperate for a break from my company.”

Nicky isn’t certain he could ever grow tired of Joe’s company under any circumstances. He would have told Joe as much, but he also rationalized that doing so might look a tad clingy so he refrained for the sake of his dignity. 

“I’m disappointed I’ll miss the wrap party. I’ve heard a rumor that they’re always spectacular on Andy’s productions.”

Joe snorted out a laugh. “Oh god yes, you’re going to miss out on seeing Booker and Andy get completely shitfaced. It’s rare they both get trashed at the same time, but when they do hilarity tends to ensue. We will absolutely have to recreate it for you at some point.”

“I’d like that,” Nicky glanced down at his watch and realized he really needed to be going if he was going to have time to get changed and pack up what little he still needed to before his flight. “I have to be going now though.”

Joe’s smile was sad as he looked at Nicky. “Stay in touch?”

“Of course.” Before he could think much of it Nicky leaned forward and kissed Joe on the cheek. It was little more than a gentle brush of his lips against the peak of Joe’s cheekbone just above the line of his beard, but it felt electric. 

When he pulled back Joe looked a bit dazed. “Goodbye Joe,” Nicky turned and left before Joe could say anything, his face bright red as he went. 

It wasn’t until he reached his trailer that he realized he had left his suit jacket on set. 

Fuck, wardrobe was going to kill him if no one noticed the jacket sitting there.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it’s been a minute. 
> 
> I really don’t have any excuse for the long delay and I just hope everyone likes the new chapter!

Joe hadn’t expected the press tour to be this dull. 

Nicky was still tied up and wouldn’t be arriving till late tonight so Joe was left to brave the first day of interviews on his own and it was so endlessly boring. 

The whole day was just him sitting in a room as journalists filed in and asked him the same five to ten questions. The most exciting part of his day had been when one of the girls from a French publication hadn’t been able to find the word she was looking for in English and so Joe just started to talk to her in French. The look of surprise and delight on her face had been worth the eye roll and scoff he got from Booker when he told him the story a few hours later. 

Which is why he was delighted when they made it back to the hotel and Nicky was just checking in at the front desk. 

Andy got to him first, tugging him in for a quick hug, Booker was next, the embrace brief but no less heartfelt. Nile had stayed behind to talk with a few more of the reporters so that just left Joe who just now remembered exactly how they had parted ways last time and could suddenly remember the feeling of Nicky’s lips against his cheek in crystal clear detail even though it had been nearly six months since they had last seen each other in person. 

So instead of greeting Nicky like the others had, like any normal friend would, he hung back a bit, shifting is weight from side to side, praying his blush wasn’t visible. 

Lucky for him it seemed Nicky was facing a similar issue as he turned bright red the moment he spotted Joe. 

“I’m gonna grab a drink at the bar, want to join Booker,” Andy announced rather loudly, leaving no room for argument when she grabbed Booker by the elbow and dragged him towards the bar on the opposite side of the lobby, leaving Joe and Nicky alone save for the young woman manning the front desk who was trying very hard to pretend like she wasn’t eavesdropping on every word they were about to say. 

Luckily Joe managed to recover first. “Here, let me help you with your bags, what room are you in?” He asked, bending down to pick up the larger of the two duffel bags Nicky had put in the ground next to him as he was checking in, only belatedly realizing the implications of his question as he was straightening up. “Not that I meant it like that, I just thought you might like some help,” he managed to stutter out in explanation. Fuck, he could have walked over the the very expensive looking glass wall next to the check in desk and start bashing his head against it for being sick a fucking idiot around Nicky. What was it about Nicky that made him lose all of his cool, he normally wasn’t like this. 

Nicky wasn’t phased too much by Joe’s bumbling at least. “That would be nice,” Nicky responded as he picked up his other bag. “But I don’t want you to go out of your way, we’re probably on completely different floors given how many rooms this hotel has.”

They weren’t on separate floors, in fact their rooms were right next to each other which was simultaneously the best thing that had happened to Joe in weeks and also moderately terrifying. 

“Fuck, time to get it together,” Joe muttered to himself as he stood in front of the door to his hotel room, psyching himself up to go out and knock on Nicky’s door and ask if he wanted to go get some dinner. 

He wasn’t even sure why he needed to go through this whole hype up process at all. It’s not like he and Nicky weren’t still close, they’d spoken almost every other day on the phone since filming had ended and texted each other constantly.

But somehow Nicky being there, seeing him in the flesh for the first time in so long felt different. He’d also somehow completely forgotten how handsome Nicky was. His hair was longer, curling just below his jaw in a way that was frankly unfair, and the healthy bit of stubble on his cheeks was making it hard for Joe to not think about what it might feel like against his skin. And those eyes, the grainy video of the sporadic video chats they’d managed to find time for didn’t do them justice. 

He was just about to finally open the door when someone knocked and called his name. 

—

Nicky had thought he had been prepared to see Joe again. That the video calls, the texts and the chats that lasted hours despite the substantial time difference between Italy and L.A. would have made him a little more immune, or at the very least accustomed to, Joe’s many charms. 

He’d been wrong. 

He caught one look at Joe, standing there looking far too gorgeous compared to Nicky who still felt disgusting after his absurdly long flight, shifting back and forth nervously and looking up at Nicky with those soulful, big brown eyes and all the sudden Nicky remembered why he’s been so gone for Joe since day one. 

He looked good too, dressed in a green henley that was an astoundingly flattering color on him and highlighted his build phenomenally. His hair was a bit shorter than when they had been filming and his beard back to being just a bit of well maintained stubble, but Joe was still as gorgeous as ever. 

Which is why Nicky was now sitting in his hotel room - which, through some absurd, cosmic twist of fate was right next to Joe’s - on the verge of a panic attack. 

He wasn’t worried about Joe not returning his feelings, he wasn’t a total idiot after all and he was able to recognize that to at least some degree there was a growing, mutual attraction between them. No he was far more concerned about how any attempt to act on that attraction could impact the friendship that had formed between them. 

Over the last few months Joe had proven to be one of the rare constants in Nicky’s life, a shining beacon of kindness, passion, and strength and Nicky was loath to risk losing that simply because he desperately wanted to fuck Joe senseless in multiple locations and increasingly creative positions until Joe was a mewling mess. Nicky’s prolific imagination hadn’t just benefited his acting, apparently it also allowed him to create realistic and astoundingly detailed fantasies as well. 

Still he couldn’t help but think of all the ways this could go wrong. They worked in the same industry after all. Even if they did manage to date, it wouldn’t be long before the tabloids hounded them relentlessly, especially given that Nicky had little doubt this movie would launch Joe into stardom. How long before the pressure of it all got to both of them and everything fell apart. 

No, much better to simply remain friends, close friends, but nothing more. 

But that also didn’t mean he had to avoid Joe, if anything he should go about his life as they normally would and let this sort of hopeless crush run its course. 

Or at least that’s what he convinced himself was the best course of action as he knocked on Joe’s door and asked him if he wanted to go find someplace to get dinner. 

They ended up at this little bistro a few blocks from their hotel that was strangely eclectic in terms of its food offerings but made up for it with a beautiful outdoor patio that let them enjoy the lovely evening weather. If the twinkle lights strung above them also managed to only further highlight Joe’s beauty by bathing him in a soft warm glow, well Nicky wasn’t going to not enjoy the view even if he was resolute in not doing anything to jeopardize their friendship. 

They chatted about a whole host of topics throughout dinner and by the time they had finished their food and settled down to with a drink to extend the evening a bit longer as they were both loath to leave, Nicky had a glass of red wine, Joe with a cup of tea, they had turned to discussing the release of the movie. 

“I mean I trust Andy and Nile when they say it’s good, but I can’t help but be a little nervous about what the critics might have to say about my performance.”

In the time since filming Joe had confided in Nicky that he hadn’t realized he would enjoy acting again as much as he did and now he was a little terrified that if his performance wasn’t well received he would miss out on any opportunity to continue acting. 

Nicky thought it was complete poppycock, Joe had been brilliant and he had little doubt that audiences and critics would fall in love with his performance just as much as Nicky had. 

“A group of critics are scheduled to have an early viewing of it tonight, I’m sure we’ll begin to hear inklings of their response in the morning and I’m sure they’ll love it.” He had little doubt the film would be a masterpiece, Nile and Booker were raving about how good the final edit was and even Andy, who rarely discussed anything about her films before they were released publicly even with her production teams, had grudgingly told Nicky in a call a few weeks back that she thought the film had potential to make some waves during awards season. 

“Knowing our luck they’ll come in half way through all the interviews we have tomorrow and we’ll start getting questions we haven’t had any time to prepare for,” Joe responded.

“Might make for a nice change compared to being asked the same five questions for eight hours straight.”

It looked like Joe was about to say something - now if it was going to be something clever or utterly ridiculous, Nicky would never know since it was always a little bit of a fifty-fifty thing with Joe, he’d still never forget the whole “stew of romance” comment about one of Nile’s one night stands - but he cut off abruptly when he noticed someone coming down the sidewalk. 

“Celeste, so good to see you again,” he said waving to a young woman with short dark hair.

The woman in question stopped next to their table, just on the other side of the little iron railing that separated the restaurant patio from the sidewalk, and greeted Joe in a slightly accented voice, French, from what Nicky could tell. 

“Celeste, this is Nicky, one of my co-stars, Nicky, this is Celeste, the only tolerable journalist I got to deal with almost all day today,” Joe introduced them both. 

“So this is the illusive co-star you wouldn’t stop talking about.” Nicky tried not to read too much into that comment. 

Joe also clearly didn’t want to dive too deep into that discussion as he quickly changed the topic. “I completely forgot to ask, when is your piece on the movie going to be coming out?”

“Tomorrow evening hopefully, we were hoping to include it with some early reviews of the film so we’re a little beholden to how quickly some of the comments from critics become publicly available. Actually...” she trailed off for a moment, as though trying to find exactly what she wanted to ask. “I know it’s a bit forward, but would you mind if I interviewed you both for just a moment or two. Joe was wonderful but Nicky you also have a fairly strong following in France given your success at some of the film festivals over the years and having both of your perspectives on the latest film would really help the article feel more fleshed out and thorough?”

Nicky couldn’t say no to the puppy dog eyes Joe was giving him across the table so Celeste joined them and next thing he knew it had been an hour of laughing and talking that had just flown by. 

Joe excused himself to go find a bathroom and soon as he was out of earshot Celeste turned her piercing gaze towards Nicky. “This is off the record, but please tell me you two are dating?”

Nicky felt himself blush, but shook his head. “Just friends.”

“Uh huh,” Celeste leaned back in her chair, eyes narrowing as though she was carefully scrutinizing Nicky’s reaction. “You know most of the time I have to interview American actors they tend to be vapid airheads or pedantic assholes. At best I get blank stares and non-committal responses to my questions, at worst they take my accent as an invitation to start mocking the French or to make some sexist remark. Joe is the first one in a while to surprise me, especially after he exhibited nearly flawless French in an effort to simply make me a little more comfortable.”

“He’s one of the kindest people I know, it doesn’t surprise me he would be courteous enough to do the interview in your native tongue, especially since he is fluent in a few languages.” Which may or may not have been another kink for Nicky. He actually was kind of curious if anyone had ever managed to fuck the English right out of Joe reduce him to his native language. He really didn’t want to think about Joe with anyone else but he also very much wanted to find out if that was possible which was a little bit of a rock and a hard place for him to be when it came to Joe and the ever growing list of fantasies that had played out in Nicky’s head so far “Also he’s not American, his family is from Tunisia and he was born in the Netherlands and moved here with his family when he was ten. He left again at thirteen, his family moved a fair bit due to his father’s business, but he came back to the states for college. He says the lack of an accent is because they moved so much that he almost never had time to really latch on to the traditional accent of any one country, but Andy says it’s cause the dialect coach at Juilliard was a dick who thought anything other than an American or British accent would never make it in theater.” 

“Hmm, that explains that then. You know he spent two thirds of the interview talking about you. His first major film, he really should be using the time he has, particularly when he has an interviewer all to himself, with building up his own credentials by highlighting his performance and instead he spends the whole time singing your praises and rambling about how brilliant of an actor you are and how much he enjoyed working with you.”

That was....not surprising honestly. Joe was too open and kind for his own good sometimes. “I can assure you, he deserve far more praise than I do for a brilliant performance in this film.”

“I’m well aware, Andromache said that you were wonderful but she said Joe’s was the single greatest natural talent she has ever worked with. I’ve interviewed her enough to know she isn’t effusive with her praise of anyone so I’m now very interested to see this film and that is saying a lot since spy flicks are not really my thing.”

“It has a little more to it that just the usual action and intrigue you find in these sort of films.” Of course it did, it was Andy and Nile at the helm and their movies always had depth and meaning to them and this one was no exception. 

“I’m sure it does but I have a sneaking suspicion that the real takeaway from it is going to have much less to do with the plot and far more to do with the on screen chemistry between its two leading men. I say this because I genuinely like Joe and you seem pleasant enough, but if you ever have any hope of being in a relationship with that man and not having him think it is just because you are giving into the rabid fan girls that are undoubtedly going to “ship” the two of you together for all eternity then I strongly suggest you ask him out now rather than later.”

Fuck, Nicky had forgotten about how carried away fandom culture could get sometimes and the way chemistry in a film could bleed over into people thinking there was something there in real life as well - which, I mean in this case there was but it would also undoubtedly make denying his feelings for Joe even harder to manage if he constantly had fans shoving them back into his face. Hopefully it didn’t come to that, Joe would obviously be launched into stardom with this film but if they were lucky they both might escape the attentions of the press who would only fan the flames of any theories carried by fans of the film and then they would only have to deal with the intrusive attentions for a brief while. 

“I’ll take that under advisement.”

Joe chose that moment to return. 

“Did I miss anything important?” He asked. 

“Not really,” Celeste responded with a smile. 

Nicky escaped having to address the 80 pound gorilla that was his feelings for one night it seemed. 

He wouldn’t be so lucky tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> Did I just use the actors’ names for their characters? Yes, yes I did. 
> 
> Am I having them film a modern version of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.? Yes, yes I am.
> 
> Enjoy and as always, comments and kudos appreciated.


End file.
